The Life (So Far) of Rachel Raccoon
by CorporalCoon
Summary: Bentley's girlfriend (and now wife) Rachel gives a brief description of her life so far.


I'd like to introduce myself to you. My name is Rachel Winston. I'm the girlfriend of Bentley Raccoon, but I've been his wife since May 31, 2007. This is a brief story of my life so far.

I was born in Dothan, Alabama, on February 28, 1979. I'm the second and youngest of two children born to my parents, Jack and Reese Winston. My parents met in university and married on July 19, 1971. My brother Curt was born on March 7, 1974.

My parents lived through the civil rights struggle in Alabama and other southern states during the early to mid-1960s. They tended to remain neutral and not take sides, but when three little girls were killed in a church bombing in the Alabama city of Birmingham in 1963, they took the side of those fighting to give basic rights to all Americans, regardless of race. They took an even tougher position when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968.

Thankfully, by the beginning of the 1970s, schools throughout Alabama and other southern states were becoming fully integrated and the colour barrier at public places such as drinking fountains had disappeared. Mom and Dad are thankful that Curt and I grew up in an America where you didn't get physically attacked just for going into the "wrong washroom" or sitting on the "wrong seat" of a bus.

My dad has been working for the oil industry since he graduated from university. Mom took a job as a nurse and she still holds that position to this day. Retirement day for both of them probably isn't too far off now. It will be interesting to see what their post-retirement years hold for them after it actually happens.

In July 1992, Dad received a job offer from the Evergreen Forest in Canada. His new boss was Mr. Knox. Mr. Knox owns his own TV station in the forest and has been married since 1987 to Lady Baden-Baden, one of the forest's richest citizens. A few weeks after receiving the job offer, we sold our house in Dothan and moved to the Evergreen Forest. It was sad leaving Alabama and all my friends, but I soon came to love living in the Evergreen Forest, because it's where I met my future husband.

Interestingly, Mr. Knox is also from the southern U.S. He originally comes from Louisiana and came to the forest with his parents when his father's oil company struck a well here. After their deaths, Mr. Knox became the owner of the company, a position which he holds to this day, although he plans to hand the business over to his now 33-year-old nephew Bonneville when he retires.

Back to me. I first met Bentley Raccoon on that July day in 1992 when we moved to the Evergreen Forest. From the moment he met me, I seemed to capture Bentley's heart. This concerned my parents a little at first, but they figured since I had already made a new friend and liked him, maybe they had made the right decision in coming here.

After getting some stuff moved into our new house, we went to a welcome dinner at the house of Bentley's parents. They were really nice. Bentley's dad, George, used to work as a TV chef. When a local volcano named Mount Vulcan erupted the previous summer, resulting in a series of earthquakes, George seemed to take total control of the situation, setting up shelters for those affected by the disasters and getting aid shipped in from the Canadian government. Everyone was so impressed by George's leadership, that he ran for mayor in early 1992 and won, handing a second straight defeat to his rival, Cyril Sneer. Bentley has told me that despite his shortcomings, Mr. Sneer is a really nice guy. He and Mr. Sneer have been friends for years. George remains mayor to this day.

Bentley's mom, Nicole, works as assistant curator at the Evergreen Museum. She told me the story of how the home of Bentley's friend, Annie Ringtail, had been destroyed in the Mount Vulcan disaster and how Bentley saved her life. Bentley's friend, Bert Raccoon, and his sister, Lisa, had been stranded on the mountain during the eruption, and everyone assumed they were dead, until Bentley's family found him, Lisa, Bert and Annie safe and sound at the hospital.

Bentley and Annie should have had a smooth road ahead after that, but in June 1992, Annie's father received a job offer from a company in Ottawa and decided to accept it. After Annie moved, Bentley had become very lonely and withdrawn. I guess I came into his life at the right time! Having said that, it was still sad to hear about Annie. Happily, the last time we heard from her, Annie had gotten married and was expecting her first child. This was shortly before my wedding to Bentley.

Bentley's sister, Lisa, is now 39. She has been married since 2002 to Bert, and they have two children together, who are 10 and 8. She's the same age as my brother Curt, who is also married with two children of the same age. Lisa was an ace basketball player in high school and university, and hopes to pass her love of the sport on to her children. That's what Curt wants to do. He loved playing football and hopes his children will do the same when they're old enough.

Although we liked each other at first, Bentley waited a few weeks before he asked my parents permission to start dating me. Our first date was a matinee of BATMAN RETURNS. I still remember the day when Bentley introduced me to his Uncle Ralph and Aunt Melissa. They owned and operated a local newspaper called The Evergreen Standard. Bentley had a summer job there as a movie critic. I took a job as Bentley's "assistant critic" in the summer of 1993. They were both very friendly. They welcomed their first child, Molly, in September 1992. Bentley and Lisa enjoyed having a new cousin, and their parents loved being an aunt and uncle.

Our first school year together went off without a hitch. We entered Grade 8 in September 1992. When it ended, Bentley asked me to be his date to the grad dance. He didn't have to ask me twice! The dance took place at Lady Baden-Baden's mansion, which seems like an odd location for a school dance. However, she and Mr. Knox were major contributors to the Evergreen School Board, and they held the dance as a reward to the graduates from the various elementary and high schools. The dances were held in different parts of the mansion. The high schoolers had their dance in the backyard, and we had our dance in the main ballroom. Also, she and Mr. Knox have no children of their own, and they considered us all to be their children.

It was also at that dance that we had our first kiss. We shared it outside on the balcony to keep it from prying eyes, although a few high schoolers in the backyard probably saw it. One person in the ballroom who did see it, and took a photo of it, was Bentley's Aunt Melissa, who loves photography.

High school was the next big step in our lives. We did very well there and were able to resist the temptations that many teenagers face in their lives, including drugs, alcohol and sex, because we had parents who installed good values in us. We both graduated with honours in 1998.

University was no problem either. Although we still cared about each other, we put our studies ahead of each other when it came to those crucial mid-term and final exams. When it was all over, we were free to party party party! But we partied responsibly.

Bentley proposed to me on Christmas Day in 2006. Our wedding day took place on a rainy Saturday afternoon, and I wasn't exactly at the Church on time, but it didn't stop us from tying the knot. Bert and Curt were best men and Lisa was the maid of honour. Bert and Lisa's four-year-old daughter, Penny, was a flowergirl. Their son, Arthur, was only a year old and was too young to serve in any function. Ralph and Melissa's daughter, Molly, then 14, served as a junior bridesmaid, and their son, Nick (born in May 1994), then 12, served as ring-bearer. The rainy weather didn't ruin the happiness that the two of us and all the guests felt at the wedding and at the reception, which took place at the Blue Spruce Café.

Today, Bentley serves as a computer programmer at Sneer Industries, which is now run by Cyril's son, Cedric. Cyril retired in 1995 and now enjoys winter breaks at his timeshare in Florida. Cedric and his wife, Sophia, have two children. Cyril loves being a grandfather.

I found a job as a teacher at Evergreen Elementary, which has gone from being a single-room schoolhouse to a multi-room, two-level school. I had to take maternity leave in late 2008 when I discovered I was pregnant. Bentley and I welcomed our first child, a son named Mark, in February 2009. I returned to work in early 2010, but had to take maternity leave again in early 2011 when the stork paid us a second visit. Our daughter, Vanessa, arrived in May 2011. Today, Mark is four and in his final year of nursery school. Vanessa is two and divides her time between daycare and being cared for by Grandma Nicole and Grandpa George. Bentley and I are both very proud of our two children and hope they will have all the best opportunities in the years ahead. We have been married for six years and are looking forward to many more happy years!


End file.
